Li Xuejiao continued trying to persuade Chen Shaojie, "New disciples like us will only receive three Grain-Avoidance Pills from the sect every month. We have to earn merit points and use them to redeem everything else, even cultivation techniques.
( TL: Grain Avoidance, or Bigu, is a Daoist fasting technique associated with achieving immortality. More info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigu_(grain_avoidance) )
"The Jing Yun Hall is in charge of all the miscellaneous affairs in the sect. If you go there, how is it different from staying in the lower court?
"Why don't you come with me to the Si Yuan Hall. The hall is in charge of managing finance. You'll have a much easier time there than you'll have in the Jing Yun Hall."
After being in training for a period of time, Chen Shaojie already had a good understanding of the Qing Yu Immortal Sect's structure.
Going by the concept of a company on Earth, the Jing Yun Hall could be considered the administrative and operational department, while the Si Yuan Hall could be considered the financial department.
In an ordinary company, the administration department was in charge of miscellaneous tasks, while the financial department was in charge of fund circulation and distribution. It was immediately obvious at a glance which one was more important.
(TL: Effective Role Of Administration In An Organization: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140714095925-34031211-effective-role-of-administration-in-an-organization )
But Chen Shaojie still shook his head. "I appreciate your concern, Senior Sister, but I've already made up my mind. I'm still going to choose the Jing Yun Hall."
Even without Tuoba Guoyun, Chen Shaojie would not go to the Si Yuan Hall.
He had thought long and hard about it. His cultivation talent was too low, so if he wanted to make a place for himself in the Qing Yu Immortal Sect, he had to play to his strength.
Handling mundane affairs was his specialty. After all, in his previous life on Earth, he was someone who had started a business and become a boss. His future prospects in the Jing Yun Hall should be pretty decent.
Even if he somehow lost the Bask-in-the-Glow system in the future, he should still be able to avoid getting kicked out of the sect by relying on this specialty of his.
Therefore, he would choose the Jing Yun Hall no matter what... That's the way a transmigrator considered problems - safe and steady!
When Li Xuejiao heard Chen Shaojie's response, she could not help feeling greatly disappointed. "Junior Brother, if you insist on going to the Jing Yun Hall, I'm afraid we won't get to spend much time together anymore."
Chen Shaojie was curious. "Why do you seem so sure, Senior Sister? We've not been assigned yet. How do you know we won't be going to the same place?"
Li Xuejiao was momentarily taken aback by his question. After hesitating a bit, she answered, "I might as well tell you the truth, Junior Brother. I have an aunt who's also in the Qing Yu Immortal Sect. It was she who brought me here."
After a short pause, she looked at Chen Shaojie with a complicated gaze and continued, "My aunt has already chosen the Si Yuan Hall for me."
So her path had already been arranged...
Chen Shaojie was a bit saddened by the news. Fate sure liked to toy with people.
He was actually feeling quite grateful for Sister Li. Thanks to her, he was able to complete the cultivation of the "Qing Yu Body Forging Technique" in such a short amount of time.
He originally thought that if they could be assigned to the same place, the two of them could take care of each other and continue to be good friends.
How did that saying on Earth go? You have boobs, I have a schlong, we're gonna be good friends for life?
(TL: The pun doesn't really work in English.)
But it seemed that they were going to go their separate ways... It's sad...
Chen Shaojie thought about it, then comforted her, "It's okay, Senior Sister. Even if we go to different halls, we're still in the same sect. I'm sure we can still meet up regularly. It won't be a problem."
Upon hearing this, Sister Li's mood became much better, and the amplitude of the movement of her body parts became bigger as well. "You're right, Junior Brother. We can still meet regularly in the future. We must do that."
Taking a peek at his Senior Sister's firm and bouncy posture, Chen Shaojie could not help remarking in his mind, 'As the green hills do not change, and the green water forever flows, so shall our relationship remain untouched by time. Senior Sister, we shall surely meet again (for some action) in the future.'
...
After their training session for the day, it rained within the sect's spell array.
The rain was reminiscent of the autumn rain on Earth. Like mist and fog, it silently floated atop the green stone steps, the dead branches, and the leaves on the ground.
It drenched the ground, drenched the roofs, and drenched the entire Qing Yu Mountains.
Chen Shaojie rejected Li Xuejiao's invitation to go back to the dormitory together. He walked to the Jing Yun Hall alone.
Since his promotion to the upper court, he had been obediently staying in the Hall of Learning and had not wandered around.
At first, he wanted to see if Tuoba Guoyun would come look for him. If Tuoba Guoyun did take the initiative to come find him, it would mean that he held some significance to Tuoba Guoyun, and it would give him a little psychological edge when dealing with Tuoba Guoyun in the future.
But Chen Shaojie caught no sight of Tuoba Guoyun at all after all these days, as if Tuoba Guoyun had completely forgotten about him.
Because the time for work assignment was fast approaching, Chen Shaojie decided to throw away his passive way of thought and take the initiative instead. He decided to go to the Jing Yun Hall to look for Tuoba Guoyun and confirm his assignment to the Jing Yun Hall.
Holding a primitive oilcloth umbrella, Chen Shaojie traversed along the mountain path that had been paved with stone steps for about half an hour before he finally arrived at the Jing Yun Hall.
Standing in front of the hall, Chen Shaojie tidied himself up so that he looked cleaner and more capable instead of greasy. He pushed the door open and walked in.
But right after he pushed the door open--
"What the hell is going on? How can someone make such a big mistake? How the hell did you guys do your job..."
A voice akin to the roar of a dragon came from inside the hall, shaking the sky.
"X﹏X"
Chen Shaojie instantly knew he had come at a bad time. Without a moment's delay, he retreated back out and closed the door.
Once the door was shut, the sound from inside could not be heard anymore.
All the great halls had special spell arrays that could insulate sound, including the Hall of Learning, so Chen Shaojie was not surprised.
He stood in front of the door, patting his chest. When he recalled the roar froma moment ago, he could not help thinking that the voice sounded rather familiar. It sounded like...
"Tuoba Guoyun?"
Chen Shaojie frowned involuntarily.
He looked so friendly and amiable in the Book Depository the other day. So he was actually so scary when he was angry?
Holy moly...
This was a miscalculation...
Chen Shaojie suddenly felt that he might have been a little rash in choosing Jing Yun Hall.
At first, he felt that being assigned to the Jing Yun Hall should be a good thing because not only was it compatible with his specialty, there was also a big shot here who would take him under his wings. But now, it appeared that this was not necessarily the case.
The big shot seemed to have a very explosive temper!
His attitude was so fiery when he was scolding his subordinates... he must be a person who was very demanding of his subordinates?
If Chen Shaojie were to fall into Tuoba Guoyun's grasp, even if he was doing what he was good at and performed well at it, he probably would not get any compliment, would he?
There was absolutely no future working under a boss like this. He might as well go somewhere else and pass his days peacefully.
"It's not too late to leave now, is it?"
Chen Shaojie's brain went into overdrive. After making up his mind, he immediately raised his umbrella and walked back the way he came.
But he had just taken a few steps when--
"Why are you leaving already?"
From behind came the voice of Tuoba Guoyun.
"Oh sh*t, it's too late!"
Chen Shaojie's face scrunched into a grimace, but when he turned around, it fluidly switched to a smiley face. "Greetings, Senior Tuoba."
Tuoba Guoyun stood in front of the door and squinted at Chen Shaojie. "You should be here to see me, right? Why are you leaving already?"